Uplift and Erosion, 24" x 36", oil on panel, 2022
"Uinta Castle", 24" x 36", oil on panel, 2022
"Veins of the Forest", 24"x36", oil and acrylic on canvas, 2020.
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This painting is based on the research of Stout et al. 2012: a status review of Oregon Coast Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). The coho (silver) salmon traditionally ran from Hokkaido, Japan and eastern Russia east to Alaska and south to Monterey Bay, California, and has been a staple of peoples’ diets in these areas.
🐟 Look closely! The tree line in this painting is actually a graph from Stout’s population abundance research, showing the abundance of spawners (reproductive age fish) that were present in coastal Oregon streams between 1892 and 2014. What are your hypotheses about the drivers of this trend? |
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"Below the LCR", 9"x12", watercolor and gouache on paper, 2020.
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Mile 64, just downstream of the Little Colorado River confluence. A watercolor made during a 3 week native fish research trip in the Grand Canyon Colorado River!
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"Oncorhynchus kisutch", 16" x 81", oil on wood slab, 2018
Coho Salmon (Oncoyhnchus kisutch) are fish native to the Pacific coast of North America. Coho are endangered due to warming temperatures and habitat loss; the farthest south extant portion of their current range is in Santa Cruz County, California, but historically they were found in creeks throught coastal California and the Baja Peninsula.
These fish are anadromous- they are hatched from eggs laid in rock nests (known as 'redds') in freshwater, spend their first year growing in the safe waters of coastal creeks, then migrate to the ocean, where there are plenty of nutrients and food to support growth. After 3 years of life, these salmon use their sense of smell to sniff out the creek they were born in, migrate back up the watershed, build nests, lay eggs, and die.
When they are migrating upstream, their bodies undergo an amazing transformation- coho salmon will stop eating, and their intestines and internal organs will shrink. Their body cavity will be completely filled with swollen gonads, ready to release genetic material. Even the outside of their bodies deteriorate as they move upstream, making these resilient fish look like zombies.
These fish are anadromous- they are hatched from eggs laid in rock nests (known as 'redds') in freshwater, spend their first year growing in the safe waters of coastal creeks, then migrate to the ocean, where there are plenty of nutrients and food to support growth. After 3 years of life, these salmon use their sense of smell to sniff out the creek they were born in, migrate back up the watershed, build nests, lay eggs, and die.
When they are migrating upstream, their bodies undergo an amazing transformation- coho salmon will stop eating, and their intestines and internal organs will shrink. Their body cavity will be completely filled with swollen gonads, ready to release genetic material. Even the outside of their bodies deteriorate as they move upstream, making these resilient fish look like zombies.
"Macrocystis", 48"x48", oil on canvas, 2019.
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This painting of kelp (Macrocystis) and a bat ray (Myliobatis californica) is inspired by the underwater worlds of the California coast. Hidden among the ridgline at the top of the kelp is a graph of sea surface temperatures from 1880 to present- as you can see, things are getting hotter! (Graph source: NOAA). Studies have shown that kelp forests decrease in size with warmer water temperatures.
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"Saddleback", 15" x 30", oil on canvas, 2018
Saddleback mountain, which overlooks Orange County, California, was formed over 3 million years ago when a blob of magma (called a 'pluton') rose up from the depths of the Earth and forced all rock substrates that were already there to move out of the way. This resulted in a plug of granite with metasedimentary rocks on the fringes, that had been ‘partially baked’ when this magma rose up. If you go hiking in the foothills of the mountain, you will see some of these metasedimentary rocks in the form of flaky shale.
This mountain was an important land for the Luiseño (Payómkawichum), Tongva, Juaneno and Acjachemen peoples. Prehistoric members of these tribes used the flora and fauna of Saddleback mountain for a complete and nutritious diet, harvesting berries, nuts, fruits, seeds, and vegetables, as well as hunting antelopes, bobcats, deer, elks, mountain lions, rabbits, insects, fish and river otters. Some of these species are no longer found in the region today. Following the arrival of Spanish Missionaries, disease and conversion to Catholicism brought death and change to native peoples, and with that came ecological change on the mountain itself. Missionaries used the grassland ecosystem surrounding Saddleback as grazing land for cattle. These lands were used as cattle ranches until the late 20th century, when suburban cities expanded into the foothills of the mountain.
Today, Saddleback provides many ecosystem services to people living in its shadow. It is a popular place for recreation, including hiking, biking, and camping, and is a notable landmark for thousands of people living in surrounding cities. Native peoples still hold tribe meetings in its foothills. The mountain also stops storm cells from moving far inland from the ocean, creating a temperate climate on its western side, and desert-like conditions on the eastern side.
This mountain was an important land for the Luiseño (Payómkawichum), Tongva, Juaneno and Acjachemen peoples. Prehistoric members of these tribes used the flora and fauna of Saddleback mountain for a complete and nutritious diet, harvesting berries, nuts, fruits, seeds, and vegetables, as well as hunting antelopes, bobcats, deer, elks, mountain lions, rabbits, insects, fish and river otters. Some of these species are no longer found in the region today. Following the arrival of Spanish Missionaries, disease and conversion to Catholicism brought death and change to native peoples, and with that came ecological change on the mountain itself. Missionaries used the grassland ecosystem surrounding Saddleback as grazing land for cattle. These lands were used as cattle ranches until the late 20th century, when suburban cities expanded into the foothills of the mountain.
Today, Saddleback provides many ecosystem services to people living in its shadow. It is a popular place for recreation, including hiking, biking, and camping, and is a notable landmark for thousands of people living in surrounding cities. Native peoples still hold tribe meetings in its foothills. The mountain also stops storm cells from moving far inland from the ocean, creating a temperate climate on its western side, and desert-like conditions on the eastern side.
"The Flood", 30" x 48", oil on canvas, 2018
Hidden along the ridgeline of the mountains in this painting is a graph, painted in pink. This graph shows an increase in flooding occurrence worldwide since 1970, and is closely linked to climate change (source: UNISDR). Warming temperatures of the atmosphere and ocean lead to more frequent and more intense storm cells, which dump water onto land masses in unpredictable and intense rainfall patterns.
Unprecedented flood events not only pose a danger to human life and property, but also can have devastating impacts on underwater communities. Extreme flooding can scour streambeds, destroying habitat and washing fish downstream and into oceans. This can be particularly catastrophic in small coastal streams, where there are no upstream populations of fish to repopulate the waters after the flood.
Unprecedented flood events not only pose a danger to human life and property, but also can have devastating impacts on underwater communities. Extreme flooding can scour streambeds, destroying habitat and washing fish downstream and into oceans. This can be particularly catastrophic in small coastal streams, where there are no upstream populations of fish to repopulate the waters after the flood.
"Torrey Pines", 16" x 32", oil paint on canvas, 2019
"Mycorrhizae", 30" x 48", oil paint on canvas, 2019
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In this painting you will see varieties of mushrooms and fungi growing out of a soil profile, with rich, dark organic material on top, and consolidated gray bedrock at the bottom. What is hidden along the ridgeline of the soil profile is a graph of global atmospheric concentration from 400 million years ago (on the far left) to today (far right). As you can see, atmospheric concentration of CO2 has skyrocketed in the last 200 years, especially compared to the past 400 million years. Mushrooms are known as ‘climate change warriors’ – they will fix atmospheric CO2, breaking down the molecule and adding the leftover elements into the soil in the form of nutrients, available as food to plants. Mycorrhizae, or the root systems (rhizomes) of fungi and mushrooms, form a symbiotic relationship with the roots of vascular plants (such as trees). Often mutualistic, fungal mycorrhizae fix carbon and nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil, and transport needed nutrients from the roots of one tree to another where there is the most need, like a vascular system. Mycorrhizae really are the heart and brain of forests. |
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"Golden Gate", 15" x 30", oil on canvas, 2019
Golden Gate Park, a tranquil green space that stretches for three miles halfway across the city of San Francisco, was carved out of a sandy expanse of sand dunes, known as the Outside Lands, in the late 19th century. 20% larger than New York's Central Park, Golden Gate Park was originally situated outside of the city's borders, and has been so valued by San Franciscans that the city has expanded around it with no encroachment.
Originally Ohlone and Ramaytush lands, the land Golden Gate Park sits upon has seen tremendous historical and ecological change and diversity in its recent history. With California's Gold Rush came hordes of people to San Francisco, who desired a park like the one in New York City to be able escape from the city. The first stage of the park's development centered on planting trees in order to stabilize the sand dunes that covered three-quarters of the park's area. To stabilize the sandy ground, French grasses were planted and left to transform the soil for half a decade. Over 700 new types of trees to the state of California were planted throughout the park, and by 1875, about 60,000 individual trees, mostly Eucalyptus, Monterey Pine, and Monterey cypress, had been planted. Some of these trees, including the Monterey cypress celebrated in this painting, are still standing today, and are considered iconic staples of the park's aesthetic.
The park was used as a refuge center for displaced peoples as a result of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, was a central place for nude frolicking for hippies during the 1967 Summer of Love, and is home to a wide variety of museums and cultural places. Golden Gate Park is also a large expanse of green area that provides habitat for song birds, coyotes, small mammals, and provides quiet and recreation for humans.
Originally Ohlone and Ramaytush lands, the land Golden Gate Park sits upon has seen tremendous historical and ecological change and diversity in its recent history. With California's Gold Rush came hordes of people to San Francisco, who desired a park like the one in New York City to be able escape from the city. The first stage of the park's development centered on planting trees in order to stabilize the sand dunes that covered three-quarters of the park's area. To stabilize the sandy ground, French grasses were planted and left to transform the soil for half a decade. Over 700 new types of trees to the state of California were planted throughout the park, and by 1875, about 60,000 individual trees, mostly Eucalyptus, Monterey Pine, and Monterey cypress, had been planted. Some of these trees, including the Monterey cypress celebrated in this painting, are still standing today, and are considered iconic staples of the park's aesthetic.
The park was used as a refuge center for displaced peoples as a result of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, was a central place for nude frolicking for hippies during the 1967 Summer of Love, and is home to a wide variety of museums and cultural places. Golden Gate Park is also a large expanse of green area that provides habitat for song birds, coyotes, small mammals, and provides quiet and recreation for humans.
"Alpine", 48" diameter circle, oil on panel, 2018
This painting was made to celebrate mountains! Formed by tectonic plate activity and volcanoes, and eroded by water, wind, and glaciers, mountains make up 20% of the Earth’s land surface. Funnily enough, there is no universally accepted definition of a mountain – the Oxford English Dictionary defines a mountain as 'an elevated part of the Earth’s surface that rises abruptly in elevation, and has an altitude that is ‘impressive’ compared to surrounding land forms'.
Regardless of their definition, mountains are home to high alpine ecosystems, which are increasingly susceptible to biome shifting and biodiversity loss due to warming temperatures and changing climates. Organisms such as the pika and the white bark pine are unable to survive warm temperatures, and are forced upward as the lower part of their historical ranges are getting too hot to survive in. Unfortunately, once the top of a mountain gets too hot, there is nowhere higher to go.
Regardless of their definition, mountains are home to high alpine ecosystems, which are increasingly susceptible to biome shifting and biodiversity loss due to warming temperatures and changing climates. Organisms such as the pika and the white bark pine are unable to survive warm temperatures, and are forced upward as the lower part of their historical ranges are getting too hot to survive in. Unfortunately, once the top of a mountain gets too hot, there is nowhere higher to go.
"Ghandruk", 24" x 36", oil on canvas, 2017
Ghandruk is a village in the foothills of the Annapurna mountains in Nepal, only accessible by hiking up thousands of stairs for many miles through the Himalayan foothills. I spent time here doing research on birds living in cities and villages throughout the country. To the north, Nepal is home to some of the tallest mountains in the world (including Mt. Everest at 8848m above sea level), but its southerly elevation is ~80m above sea level, an elevation gradient that supports multiple climate and biomes zones. The country is known as a ‘biodiversity hotspot’, meaning it has a high level of biodiversity proportionate to its small size, and is highly vulnerable to losing this biodiversity. Over 900 species of birds are recorded to us Nepal as some or part of their native range!
"Pinus", 36" x 60", oil on canvas, 2016
Pine trees, any conifer in the genus Pinus, can be found in most regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They grow well in acidic, sandy soils, and rely on fire to regenerate and reproduce: a pinecone can only open and release its seeds if it reaches a certain temperature, but will burn up if too hot. Fire suppression regimes have caused some pine populations to decline, both from the absence of fire to open the pine cones and from an accumulation of fuels that cause giant conflagrations destroying pine cones due to too much heat.
"Bark", 14" x 72", oil on canvas, 2016
Bark beetles reproduce by burrowing into the inner bark of trees. Although there have been outbreaks of bark beetles species that kill live trees (such as the mountain pine beetle), most bark beetles live in dead or previously weakened trees. These beetles burrow into the bark, making 'galleries', or winding engravings used as a nest for eggs, the leftover wood shavings used as food for recently hatched larvae. Bark beetles play a critical role in forest ecology, creating forest complexity in early succession forests (recently burned ecosystems).
"Phosphorus", 48" x 48", oil on panel, 2015
Phosphorus is an element and macronutrient essential to the growth of plants. Phosphorus plays a role in photosynthesis, respiration and ATP (the energy producing process in plants), and is made available through the weathering of rocks. In places like Hetch Hetchy Valley, in Yosemite National Park, where the inspiration for this painting originated, phosphorus is abundant because there is plenty of bedrock to supply phosphorus to plants. In grasslands, where the land is old and rocks have been weathered down, phosphorus is a limiting nutrient for organisms.
"Salmonidae", 14" x 96", oil on log, 2015
Detail of "Salmonidae", 14" x 96", oil on log, 2015
Steelhead salmon/ rainbow trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss) is a beautiful salmonid species. Salmon are indicator species, and are the first to leave or die out in a damaged watershed.
Although quite adept at making it over obstacles, these steelhead often can’t make it from the ocean to their breeding grounds in rivers over human-made dams. However, submerged logs, like the pine I made this painting on, slow water flow and create ample habitat for young salmon to grow.
Although quite adept at making it over obstacles, these steelhead often can’t make it from the ocean to their breeding grounds in rivers over human-made dams. However, submerged logs, like the pine I made this painting on, slow water flow and create ample habitat for young salmon to grow.
Plumas, 12" x 30", oil and acrylic on canvas, 2016
In the Plumas National Forest, the northernmost forest in the Sierra Nevada range, I had the opportunity to work on a field research team searching for Bombus occidentalis, the western bumblebee. This bee, with dense black pile (or fur), and a white tail end, is under consideration for addition to the endangered species list. It is currently unknown how big the population is, or how far south its range expands. Bumble bees are an excellent pollinator of tomatoes and cranberries – their wings vibrate in the key of C when they are flying, which opens up flowers to release pollen in a beautiful mutualistic vibrato.
Moonlight, 12" x 30", oil and acrylic on canvas, 2016
Nitrogen, 48" x 24", oil on canvas, 2015
This painting was inspired by the colorful variation of algae in terraced rice paddies. Rice, like may crops humans rely on, are nitrogen limited, which means that out of all of the nutrients the plant needs, the soil and water it grows in has the least nitrogen. When that limiting nutrient (N) is introduced to the system, the plant will generally undergo a spike in growth.
A common way for conventional farmers to induce this growth is by adding chemical fertilizers, which supply a huge amount of nitrogen to soils. Unfortunately, agricultural fields are incapable of absorbing all this extra nitrogen, and it gets washed down the watershed into rivers and oceans. Here, nitrogen sparks growth of bacteria and algae, which feed off the nitrogen, die en masse, and decompose, a process that uses all the oxygen in the water, creating hypoxic areas. As a result, other organisms in that water body (fish, mammals, etc.) die from suffocation in these ‘dead zones’. Source: NOAA Ocean Service.
How can we help? Avoid using chemical fertilizers (you don’t want to eat that stuff anyway), use natural compost, and create bioswales (landscape elements designed to concentrate and remove pollution out of runoff water through mulching and pollution-absorbing plants).
A common way for conventional farmers to induce this growth is by adding chemical fertilizers, which supply a huge amount of nitrogen to soils. Unfortunately, agricultural fields are incapable of absorbing all this extra nitrogen, and it gets washed down the watershed into rivers and oceans. Here, nitrogen sparks growth of bacteria and algae, which feed off the nitrogen, die en masse, and decompose, a process that uses all the oxygen in the water, creating hypoxic areas. As a result, other organisms in that water body (fish, mammals, etc.) die from suffocation in these ‘dead zones’. Source: NOAA Ocean Service.
How can we help? Avoid using chemical fertilizers (you don’t want to eat that stuff anyway), use natural compost, and create bioswales (landscape elements designed to concentrate and remove pollution out of runoff water through mulching and pollution-absorbing plants).
Ocotillo, 30" x 48", oil on canvas, 2016
Zion, 36" x 12", oil on canvas, 2015
Range of Light, variable dimensions, acrylic on wood, 2015
Glomalin, 30" x 20", oil on canvas, 2015
Glomalin is a protein created on the spores and hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi (roots of a fungus that intertwine throughout the soil). Glomalin is extremely high in nutrients for plants. In desert ecosystems, glomalin is especially important as a source of nutrients for plants that live in some of the most harsh environments on earth. In these extremely dry places, it takes fungi 50-100 years to form a layer of protein a few inches thick, which presents as a crusty layer on top of desert sands (known as 'cryptobiotic crust'). When these glomalin crusts are broken down by being crushed or stepped on, the plants have to go many years without a nutrient source.
Glacier point, 30" x 20", oil on canvas, 2015
